Different Lives
by ArmySFC
Summary: Just a different take on how the team started out and where it went.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I'm back, sort of. For those of you reading my work for the first time or prior readers let me give you a bit of my back ground. I'm retired Army, hence the screen name, with 5 combat tours, two in Iraq and three in Afghanistan. I generally write to keep myself busy, which is most days, I find TV in general lousy and unless there's a hockey or baseball game the TV is off. Don't expect to find any of what I write it posted online, due to the crap it would probably stir up in the fandoms.

Before you read this work please heed this warning. I'm taking liberties with the characters, most will be OC. Finally, I don't like Morgan, at all, like not even a little bit. To say I dislike Morgan with the passion of a thousand burning suns would be an understatement. Funny thing is, I tend to write Morgan as close to how he appears to me on the show. He doesn't like to actually do the work he's getting paid to do; he has no respect for personal space, and he acts like an expert in things he has no clue about. His behavior makes it easy for me to have him killed or locked up for doing what he wants despite being warned not to do it.

May 2006 FOB Ramadi Iraq.

Six exhausted, dust covered and bloody Marines from the 3rd Battalion 8th Marines along with two Navy Corpsmen assigned to their platoon, in the same condition flopped down on the chairs in the dayroom inside the command blinding inside their compound. Each let out a deep sigh of relief knowing they had just taken out another group of insurgents without losing any members of their team. The tallest Marine in the group got up and popped a DVD in the player before returning to his seat next to one of the Corpsmen.

"Stretch, please tell me it's not Fast and Furious again," sighed one of the Marines.

"Can't," Stretch said with an exhausted laugh, "You know Doc likes to watch it to unwind. Makes her feel likes she's home."

"Damn right it does," the blonde female corpsman said elbowing Stretch. "Another year and I'll be back racing on the streets of southern Cali."

"Really?" Stretch asked with a raised eyebrow like he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"I figured you two would be playing house by then," the red headed female corpsman, nick named Stitch said.

"It's not in Doc's genes to settle down," A gruff voice said from behind them. "I'm just glad they could keep it in their pants over here." Everyone in the room broke out in laughter, including the couple in question. The blonde corpsman buried her face in the Marines chest trying to stifle her laugh.

"Good job out there today Marines and corpsmen. You took out the insurgents and found their weapons cache. EOD is on site to destroy them. The better news is, our replacements are here, we're going home." This caused all the people in the room to cheer and slap each other around.

"You heard the Captain, head to your racks and secure your gear. I'll stay back and get the details. Sparky make sure they shower," Stretch said.

"You're not worried about us," Stitch said with a giggle. The Captain let out a gruff laugh on his way back to his office. Before he entered it he turned around, "You bunk with Doc. In all my years in the Corps, I've never seen a neater room, so no."

"I'll meet you two in the mess hall," Stretch said as he followed the Captain into his office.

"So, Gunny, you going to make an honest woman out of Doc when you get back," The captain asked with a smile.

"We've talked about it a few times but decided to wait until we get out before we make a commitment like that," the gunnery sergeant said with a smile.

"You know my story, I almost made the biggest mistake of my life a few years ago, thanks to you I didn't," the captain said.

"That's what friends are for Sir. Permission to leave," the sergeant said before a smirk crossed his face.

"Dismissed," the captain said with a smile on his face as the Gunnery Sergeant left his office.

During the next year the tight group of Marines, along with the Navy Corpsmen continued to hang out together while stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as they waited for their service commitments to end. Sparky, Doc, Stitch and Stretch elected not to re-enlist while the rest of the team signed up for another four years. During the year Doc and Stretch flew home to get married with their friends and family. They set their plans in motion for when they got out by buying an office in a shopping center. During the years they were enlisted, they sent every spare dime to Doc's mother, and investment banker by trade, who invested it for them and deposited a few dollars, well maybe more than a few dollars for most of the country but for a woman of considerable wealth it was mere dollars, of her own. Stretch's sister was using her contacts to set up possible contracts for her brother and his wife for when they got his company up and running.

September 2007

Two bodies were snuggled under the covers of a king bed sleeping soundly when a soft tapping sounded on the bedroom window. One of the bodies, the female, stirred slightly and was pulled in closer by the male she was sleeping on top of. She gave a contented sigh and drifted back to sleep or attempted to. The knocking continued and got louder in the process sending the female from irritated to pissed off. She pried herself away from her lover and went to the window in question. Opening the curtain she saw a man outside she didn't know. She threw open the window and without asking questions or saying a word, delivered a straight right to the stranger's face, breaking the man's nose and sending him to the ground screaming in pain. Closing and relocking the window she climbed back in the bed and snuggled into her lover who was looking at her.

"Who was it Nik?"

"Hell if I know Gabe, now go back to sleep." They were just about to drift off when a loud pounding started on the bedroom room door.

"For the love of all that's holy what do you want Katheryn?" Gabe yelled.

"We're trying to have sex here," Anika answered causing the woman beating on the door to break out in laughter. The couple was already out of bed and putting on more clothes.

"You seriously want me to believe that?" she huffed as she opened the door, "you guys rattle the windows when you go at it. Care to explain why Morgan is sitting in my kitchen with a broken nose?"

"So that was Morgan," Anika mused. "He was banging on the window, when I opened it he tried to climb in, so I defended myself."

"Against Morgan?" Kathy asked with a huff.

"In her defense, I warned him not to use the window and she had just woken up. What's for breakfast?"

"That man will never learn," Kathy sighed. "Are you guys going for a run before you eat?"

"Of course," Anika quipped. The couple decided not to deal with Morgan and exited through the window causing Kathy to laugh. She returned to the kitchen where Morgan was sitting with the towel and icepack on his face.

"Did you learn anything this morning?" Kathy said as she glared at the small bearded man sitting at her table.

"That she packs a punch."

"Add, don't come over to MY house uninvited again," Kathy firmly stated.

"He lives here too," Morgan argued.

"No he doesn't. He's staying here until his house is finished, which should be sometime next week. I'm sure he won't mind you coming over but call first."

"I never had to before," he huffed as he left the apartment shaking his head. Kathy, Anika and Gabe would spend the rest of the day setting up the house for the party that night. Just after noon two of their close friends and business partners, Sparky and Stitch showed up. The four former service members started drinking once the decorating was done. They were joined just before dinner by their former commanding officer, his wife and teen daughter, who arrived bearing gifts, a bottle of scotch. Soon the party was in full swing, the courtyard crowded with tenants and Marines alike. Gabe and Anika decided to enjoy some alone time, so they retreated to the room they were staying in.

"Check it out, you got mail," Anika stated with a laugh as she tried to emulate the AOL voice. "Maybe it's another birthday wish. Check it out."

"Eh, why not. Uh, do you know this name?" he asked pointing at the screen. She looked over and scrunched her nose in thought.

"Wasn't he the dude we worked out with a few years ago when we taught those classes?"

"Right, right, good looking dude with a God complex. Give me a sec to check it out." He scanned for viruses and his software found a few. Once he dealt with them he looked over the coding. "Looks like some type of video game with all kinds of pictures but some of the coding looks off."

"See if you can fix it. I'll get us some drinks and we'll give it a go," Anika said before leaving the room. When she returned almost an hour later, she got caught up talking to her friends, she found Gabe still sitting in front of the computer.

"Any luck babe," she said wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"Not really. It was bizarre. I fixed the coding, entered the password and a bunch of pictures flashed across the screen. When they stopped, it started formatting the hard drive. I was planning on doing that anyway so no big deal. We might as well join the party," he said with a huff.

"I was looking forward to playing a new game too," Anika answered with a pout. They were chatting in the court yard with their former commander when his phone went off.

"Major Colburn."

"Congrats, you bastard, why didn't you tell us?" Anika said. He held up his hand to silence them.

"Hold on General, is there a place we can talk?" he asked Gabe.

"Sure follow me." Minutes later the small group of former marines and sailors were in the bedroom.

"Ok General, you're on speaker," the Major stated.

"I'm General Beckman with the NSA. Earlier this month Major Colburn signed on with us the be a liaison between the US Military and the NSA with the potential to take over the NSA when I retire. Earlier tonight our secure facility was broken into and all the Governments intelligence data was stolen by a CIA agent. Based on trace signals we picked up, he sent it to somebody."

"So let me get this straight," the Major began, "some CIA traitor stole all our nations secrets and sent it to an accomplice? Are there any theories on why or who they sent it to?"

"We know who stole it, Bryce Larkin. He was killed by one of my Agents with a perfect double tap, one to the chest, one to the head. I personally checked out the body to make sure he was dead, if he wasn't dead when I got there he would have been before they carted the body away, he ain't coming back," the General stated. "The only lead we have is from the device he used to send the program, and the trace we got from it. It was sent to someone in your area. I'd like to send an agent to check out any leads we may come up with."

"General, that won't be necessary," Gabe stated, "He sent it to me."

"What the fuck gunny," the Major snapped at his former Marine.

"Relax Alex, General," Anika said, "Gabe got an email from Larkin earlier today. We met him a few years ago when we were teaching ROTC Cadets at Stanford. We would sometimes work out with him in the gym or go on runs. Outside of that we never had any contact with him. We thought the email was a birthday wish. With the size of the file contained in the email we thought he sent us an old game. Gabe found viruses in the program then checked out the coding."

"I wrongly concluded that it was a game due to all the embedded images in the code. There were a few lines of code that made no sense. I removed them and fixed some lines of code that were wrong or broken," Gabe explained. "When I was finished with that, I fired up the game but the only thing that happened was a shit ton of pictures flashed across the screen. It lasted about twenty minutes then my computer began a hard format of the hard drive. As good as I am, the only way I could have stopped it was to pull the plug. Your agent can have my computer when he gets here."

"Your take Major?"

"Gunny's a true-blue patriot Ma'am, Silver Star, Purple Heart and Bronze Star for Valor. He saved my ass in Afghanistan. I'll put my oak leaves on the line that none of them are involved in this."

"Us too," echoed Anika, Sparky and Stitch.

"Very well major. I'll have an agent there tomorrow to pick up the computer. Don't forget, you have a meet and greet with General Stanfield in the morning."

"Is that wise Ma'am? You have intelligence that says there's a Serbian bomb maker in the area who's associated with the Golden Circle terrorist group. Those folks have no love for us, I can tell you," Gabe quipped.

"How the fuck do you know that gunny," a shocked Stitch asked. From the looks on the other faces in the room they wanted to know as well. He replied with a shrug.

"I may have an idea," Beckman said over the phone. "In a nut shell the program that Larkin stole contained all the intelligence data the NSA and CIA have. It was designed to be uploaded into agents who would then have all the data with them. The information was supposed to be made accessible when a visual or audible clue triggered it, like a scar. Major, I'll be flying in tonight. I'll push your meeting with General Stanfield to the right. Have your team meet me at Pendleton at ten hundred hours. I'll arrange a secure room and call you with the details, Beckman out."

"Don't we have a say in this," questioned Doc.

"Would any of you Marines actually turn down a call from your country?" Alex asked.

"Hell no, we'd just like to be asked," Anika added. "Besides our business is taking off, you're asking us to give up a lot."

"Guy's settle down. We don't even know what the General wants to talk to us about. If it's something we need to be involved with, I'm sure we can come to an agreement. There's still a party going on out there," Gabe stated. The group returned to the party and drank until damn near dawn. Thankfully for the four friends, who were suffering from massive hangovers, Colburn arranged for a van from Camp Pendleton to pick them up.

The small group was seated in a small secure room in the bowels of the 1st Marine Division Headquarters waiting for the General arrival. When she did arrive the only person in the room that stood was the Major. She gave a sideways glace at the people in the room, most of them had their heads on the table they were sitting at. She shook her head and moved to the front of the room. Colburn cleared his throat and the groups heads popped up and blearily looked at the General. A diminutive red head wearing an Air Force uniform.

"Morning Major is this your team?" the General asked.

"Not yet, they need to know what's going on before they say yes."

"They're Marines Major, just get them orders and be done with it," barked the General.

"Yeah, no. We're civilians Ma'am, we ETS'd (Ended Time in Service) months ago," Doc stated with a grin. "We're here because we all served with the Major and he asked us to listen in." The General looked over the assembled group and sighed. This was going to harder than she thought.

"Along with Larkin stealing the program, code named the Intersect, a joint project between the CIA and the NSA, we found reason to believe he was part of a rogue group of agents and former agents calling themselves Fulcrum. What their final end game is we don't know; we believe it's to either change or over throw the Government. Major I want you to lead a team of agents to flush out and eliminate these traitors."

"Good, we're not agents, this means we can go home," Anika moaned her head still on the table, "my head is killing me." The group got up to leave but stopped when they heard them Majors telltale grunt, the one that meant sit the hell down. The General raised an eyebrow at how the group responded to the Major. Maybe the Major's idea would work.

"Ma'am, this is the team I want. I'd put any team of agents you send up against my team and guarantee they get their asses kicked," Colburn stated.

"Really, do tell."

"Sparky, comms demo guy, you want something blown up or not to blow up, he's your man. Need communications, he'll make it happen. Stitch, medic engineer, you get hurt she'll fix you up. Need a part designed and built, she's your girl. Doc, patch you up, need to get somewhere in a hurry or need a car, she's your girl. Doc and Stitch can break into anywhere if needed. Stretch, best sniper in the Corps. You've probably heard of Piranha; he makes them look like an amateur. In addition they're as hard core as it gets. You'd need more than ten agents to do what these guys can do."

"You've convinced me Major," the General said with a beaming smile, "the question is how do we get them on board?"

"You could try asking us," Sparky said, smiling right back at the General.

"Seriously, just ask, would you be interested in helping the Major take down a domestic terrorist organization?"

"Yes, we're in," Doc said for the group, "we have some terms before we agree. We go back in the service we left, with promotions to the next rank. We'll meet all the physical and other requirements of that service."

"We'll work in the civilian community, not from a base or in uniform," Sparky said. "No restrictions on what we do when not on duty, our off-duty time is our own."

"We have a business that's doing well, DSSS, focusing on cyber and physical security. We've been looking at expanding our work force. The buildings on either side are empty and for sale," Stitch added with a sly grin. The Major was sitting there with a shit eating grin on his face watching his team play the General like a fiddle. He had no doubts she was playing them as well. Beckman started laughing and need a few minutes to calm down. She'd sent her aide off earlier to get drinks and food for the group and he just returned.

"Cut the shit," Beckman said with a grin, "and tell me your plan." This made the major smile. The group looked at Gabe and gave him a nod to explain it to the brass.

"I'm sure you want someone to keep an eye on me until we figure out how this thing in my head works," Gabe began. "We use our business as a front for the operation. We're located in the same shopping plaza as a Buy More. It won't look good if our shop suddenly becomes a high traffic area. To prevent that, you buy and renovate the stores on either side of us, say a hot dog place and lingerie store and place your agents in there. Connect the basements and make it a secure area we can get briefings in and conduct the operation from."

"That's all well and good gunny, but your pretty well known to former Marines, many of who are in the NSA," Beckman stated.

"Stretch has that covered," quipped Stitch, "Allow me to introduce the members of your new team, General. Leading off Sparky, formerly known as Ryan McAdams, James Baker FBI. Batting second, yours truly, Stitch, formally known as Debora Kurtz, Carina Miller DEA. Batting third and loving wife of Gabe, Doc, formally known as Anika Hansen, Sarah Walker CIA. And batting cleanup, Stretch, formally known as Gabriel Smythe, Chuck Bartowski CIA. Our CO formally known as Major Alex Colburn USMC, Major John Casey USMC NSA special agent. Last but not least, formerly known as Dr. Katherine Smythe, Dr. Ellie Bartowski Neurology West Side Medical Center."

"Still with the baseball references, Deb?" Gabe asked with a smile. She smiled back at him and took her seat.

"Give me a week and our new identities will be rock solid from birth till now, including our files in the agency we picked," Gabe boasted. Beckman let out a groan when she heard what he said. She pinched the bridge of her nose before speaking. She looked over at the major who was still smiling.

"I'm sure I don't want to know the answer to this but how will you make that happen and won't those new names stand out?" she questioned.

"How many NSA agents to you know or have heard of by name? Not that many I'm guessing," Doc said with a grin. "As the major said, Gabe's the best hacker in the world. Hell half the info we got on insurgents was through Stretch. The captain knew we didn't have time to wait for the political hacks to make a decision, so he turned Stretch loose."

"That true Major," Beckman asked with a frown.

"Better to be tried by twelve than carried by six, Ma'am," Colburn stated.

"Brilliant, consider it done. I suggest we meet at zero eight hundred tomorrow at DSSS so I can conduct your oaths of enlistments. Bring your sister so she can be read in on the operation and we can make further plans. You best be getting to L.A. and meet with General Stanfield and see if the place is secure." The group got up and left, heading back to Burbank while General remained behind. She picked up the secure phone and placed a video call.

"Mister President, the intersect project is a go," Beckman said with a sigh.

"You don't look or sound very excited General; the Major give you a hard time?"

"No Sir. Major Colburn was all in, his team however makes the Dirty Dozen look like choir boys. I'll fill you in when I get back."

"Director Graham is screaming that he should have an agent on the team as well. As head of the CIA I can't keep him out of the project which started off as a joint effort between your agencies."

"Tell him you want Agent Sarah Walker on the team. Explain he needs to wait a week before contacting her. Say she's deep under cover with the NSA."

"Why a week? Can't you contact her now?" a confused president asked. Beckman rubbed her temples before addressing the President.

"Because she won't exist until then," she said with a crooked smile. "None of the team will for that matter. Major Alex Colburn won't be leading the team, a Major John Casey will be. Same Major, different name. His team is setting it up. For plausible deniability its best I leave you out of the loop. You're smart enough to figure it out what's going on."

"Happy hunting Diane," and the President cut the call wondering what the hell was going on out there yet knowing he was better off not knowing.

Back in L.A. the team contacted the General just prior to the speech he was going to make. Doc and Stretch found the food cart covering the bomb and Sparky was able to disarm the bomb with little fanfare. Sparky and Stitch worked to find the bomber and caught him as he tried to leave the building. He tried resisting until Stitch twisted his arm roughly behind his back breaking it, after that he was more than willing to co-operate. When the mission was complete they returned home and readied themselves for the morning briefing.

The following day found the new recruits and Beckman in the conference room of DSSS working out the final plans for the newly assembled team plus one doctor who for some reason found the entire thing to funny for words.

"So let me get this straight," the doctor said with a giggle which morphed into a full-blown laugh, "I'm now Ellie Bartowski working at West Side Medical, instead of Katheryn Smythe on the staff of Sandford Medical Center all because my idiot brother and his wife decided to play a game they knew nothing about?"

"That's a bit harsh, isn't it Kath?" Anika asked her sister in law, "but true none the less."

"Nope," she said popping the p. "For the four of you delinquents it's about par for the course. A long par, maybe even a par five with a water hazard in front of the green."

"Delinquents?" Beckman said with a raised eyebrow. Alex just shook his head. He was one of a handful of people who knew the true nature of his team.

"They didn't tell you," Kathy squeaked before breaking into laughter again. She began rubbing her hands together as she leaned towards Beckman, "This is going to be so much fun. Those four trouble makers couldn't get a pet rat with their pasts if they were subject to a back ground check. Sparky was arrested several times for making bombs in his basement, to as he says, 'blow up trees in my yard.' Stitch was arrested several times for breaking and entering, auto theft and computer crimes. Doc, grand theft auto, fraud, breaking and entering. My brother was never arrested but we had more visits from the alphabet soup about mysterious event's taking place on government servers than I can remember. It would take me all day to list the shit those four got into back in the day." Beckman felt faint when she heard what Kathy was saying. She had just hired felons to work for her.

"Relax General," Gabe quipped, "You could put your best computer people on checking us out and they won't find a trace of our past. I made it so tight we never existed. The names we're currently using are squeaky clean. Our new names will be just as solid. The only problem is our prints and DNA are on file with the government, where they have to remain considering we're going to be in the service again."

"Dear lord what have I done," Beckman moaned into her hands.

"Hired the best team you could get for what needs to be done," Kathy stated firmly. "You'd need a team of at least twenty agents to get all the skills these four have."

"General, I think you have two options," said a grinning Sparky, "learn all about us or burry your head in the sand and hope for the best. Based on the fact you want us to conduct, what would be considered illegal covert operations on American soil against citizens without a warrant, my guess would be you want to learn about us."

"He's got you there," said a beaming Kathy. She turned to look at her brother, "What the hell possessed you to pick Chuck for a name?"

"It sounds nerdy," Gabriel said with a laugh. The briefing on her teams past and life stories would take most of the day. At the conclusion of the briefing Beckman swore them back into the service and promoted them as promised. Beckman stayed and talked with Alex for a while making sure they were on the same page. Just before leaving she quipped, "Good luck Major Reisman." Alex Colburn could do nothing except break out laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

Oct 2007

It took just over a month for the construction to be finished and the stores to open. It took a few weeks before the team finally adjusted to using their new names. There was a bit of excitement during the first month of the operation. Casey and Beckman decided they needed to check out how much of the data Chuck was able to retain so they sent a bunch of files with an NSA doctor. After the test finished he was pleased beyond belief at how the intersect functioned. He kept trying to find out who the intersect was, but Casey and Sarah refused to tell him. He tried to fake his death and abduct Sarah to get the information from her, but was quickly put down after tranqing her, with a single shot by Carina who was proving overwatch. Then there was the recovery of a painting containing a bomb. That mission went off without a hitch. That is if you tossed out the fact that British Intelligence had an agent in ICU after he tried to interfere with their mission. The crew of course argued he had it coming for trying to get handsy with Sarah, she didn't take it too well and kicked his ass in front of the entire room. They did however capture the arms dealer they were after. The agents from the NSA and CIA ended up working their asses off as business was brisk in both of the new stores and the physical protection sector of DSSS. The agents would provide protection for DSSS but were not allowed in the basement that Beckman named Castle. Beckman was still laughing at Graham, who had no idea who Agent Walker was despite her record with the CIA. Beckman was even more impressed with her nerds, who gave Walker the nick names, Enforcer and Ice Queen in her CIA file.

Chuck, Sarah and Ellie had a sub mission, getting their house in order. It took some convincing to get Ellie to move in with Chuck and Sarah. The deciding factor came when Chuck pointed out that Devon, Ellie's ex, wouldn't be able to find her. Things were going well for the couple until Devon decided it would be more fun to work out and participate in extreme sports with his college buddies than spend time with his girlfriend. Despite Ellie's numerous attempts to convince him it was over, he still refused to get it. Chuck caught him several times hanging around the apartment complex. The house they bought was a five-bedroom number with four baths and a huge kitchen and living area. In the yard was a small pool and patio. Casey, his wife Kathleen and daughter Alex bought a house just down the block from the Bartowskis. The team was well aware of how Casey almost left Kathleen after he proposed to join a special unit by faking his death. After doing some major soul searching, he turned down the offer and several weeks later they found out Kathleen was pregnant with Alex. He viewed it as the best decision he ever made. His team, his wife and daughter couldn't agree more.

They did run into a small bit of trouble at the end of the first month. They somehow ended up with a contract to maintain the governments computers around their business, well within a hundred miles of it anyway. That meant they would have to hire more employees to fill their needs. So, they placed ads in all the usual places including those read mostly by people in or working for the military. Several days after the ads posted a man walked in the office inquiring about the openings. He was greeted by Carina and given a seat.

"Carina, Morgan is it?" she asked with a hint of a smile as she looked over his paperwork. "We don't normally take walk ins, but I'll give you a few minutes."

"Morgan Grimes, at your service. I'm interested in a position as an IT technician." Morgan handed her his resume and waited as she read it over.

"Can I be honest with you, Mister Grimes?" Carina questioned. She got a nod in return.

"Your resume, such that it is, lacks a lot of pertinent information. If you have it redone by a professional to include all the information you seem to have left out and send it to us, I'd be glad to arrange an appointment."

"All my information is right there," he said with a smile.

"You understand we're looking for people with either a college degree or an associate degree and five years' experience. You have neither of those, Mr. Grimes. You lack any Certifications normally acquired by IT Professionals. You graduated high school over eight years ago and the only job you've held is Buy More employee. You have no further education or experience in the IT field. I'm sorry Mr. Grimes, we don't have any openings for people with your skill set."

"How about you hire me and provide on the job training. As you can see, I got good grades in school," Morgan said pressing the issue.

"Again, that was eight years ago and high school, and the world of computing has changed a lot since then. If you had some form of a degree in a related field, we could work with that, but you don't. It also shows me you have no desire to improve your station in life. We need go getters, Mr. Grimes, not people who are content to stagnate in one place like you have. If you go to school whether it's a community college or a trade school with an IT curriculum and get your degree, I'd be more than happy to take a closer look at you. I'm afraid that's all the time I can spend with you Mr. Grimes," she said while standing, "have a good day."

"Thanks for your time, Carina," Morgan stated. He walked out of the door smiling to himself. Chuck and Sarah, both of them laughing, came out from the back room where they were hiding. Ellie walked in the front door passing Morgan on his way out, turning as she did so he didn't recognize her. She shook her head after she stopped shuddering.

"That bad El," Carina asked.

"He's a class A pervert," Ellie said shuddering again.

"He took Ellie's pillow to prom, then tried to give it back," Chuck said with a smile. Sarah broke out laughing knowing what was coming next.

"I burned the fucking thing when I found it on the stoop. He's been stalking me for years."

"He was Chuck's best friend from kindergarten to graduation," Sarah said. "Morgan would always say he was Chuck's heterosexual life partner. They would probably still be close except he showed up at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) crying and shouting Chuck couldn't enlist because they were homosexual life partners. Chuck was almost booted out until he cleared up Morgan's mess." Carina was laughing her ass off listening to the story she'd never heard.

"That was fucking hysterical," Carina said while gasping for air. "Where does the pervert part come from, other than the pillow?"

"He made it his life's work to learn everything about Ellie by stalking her," Chuck added.

"I caught him stealing my intimates, more than once. After the second time I locked the Morgan door," Ellie said in a huff. "Carina are you and Jim coming over for dinner? It's pot roast night."

"I'll be there but he's on a stake out as a favor to Beckman, seems the FBI needed a favor."

"Dinner might have to wait," Chuck said with a sigh. "I'm still not sure how this thing in my head works, but the guy that just walked by is listed as dead by the CIA. Killed on a mission in Iraq."

"He seems pretty much alive to me," Carina quipped. "You put in a call to Beckman while Sarah and I check this dude out." Carina and Sarah left the building and went next door. Chuck and Ellie went to Castle and placed the call.

"Afternoon, General," Chuck began, "I just identified a Josh Harper, listed as dead by the CIA, walking by the front of our business. Carina and Sarah went to make contact and see what they can learn about him."

"I'll check with Graham to make sure he's not on a mission. I'll call you back in a few." Carina and Sarah came bounding down the steps laughing as they did.

"Well ladies?" Chuck asked.

"I think he's nuts," Carina said. "All he wanted to know was how to get to Legolas Land. I corrected him and said it was Lego Land. He thanked us and walked away, mumbling about incompetent fools sending him on a wild goose chase."

"He's not nuts Carina. Legolas Land is a code name for a club that is rumored to be a front for the Russian mob with ties to some crazed arms dealer, or so this thing in my head says," Chuck stated. Beckman popped up on the video screen while Chuck was talking.

"Graham doesn't have any agents outside of Walker operating in the states," Beckman said with a laugh. "Chuck is correct about the club, however. I just got an update from Jim and that's the location he's been staking out. Chuck, I want you and the team to check out the club. I'll alert Casey of the mission, Beckman out."

"After dinner we can head to the club," Ellie said with a grin know the girls would agree with her and Chuck would be ass out again.

"Sometimes I hate being the odd man out, literally in this case," he sighed.

"You love it babe," Sarah said giving him a peck on the lips. "It's not like it's an actual mission. We're just going to go in, have a few drinks and dance a bit." Several hours later a battered and bruised group left the club, led by Chuck who was cursing a blue streak at the lead FBI agent.

"Are you an idiot? What didn't you understand about letting our agent know you were planning a raid? He's working with you and sitting right out front! You're an incompetent idiot. You let the dude we were trailing to get away," Chuck stated to his face. Sarah and Ellie both grabbed an arm and pulled him back. The agent sighed in relief when Chuck was out of his face then broke into a smile when a stunning red head in a barely there party dress walked up.

"Agent Black is it?" Carina purred. "You sure are sexy." He preened at her compliment.

"Thank you, you're pretty sexy yourself," Agent black said looking into her eyes. She got as close as she could and whispered into his ear, "If you ever fuck up our op again, I'll find out where you live and geld you." She gave the now shaking agent a peck on the cheek as she sauntered over to Chuck and Sarah. Ellie was tending to the couples wounded knuckles when Carina got to them.

One hour earlier

Chuck and the ladies were sitting at a high boy next to the dance floor relaxing a bit after dancing for the better part of the last hour. So far Chuck hadn't been able to identify any new players in the game while Harper was sitting by himself enjoying a whisky and water. Carina and Ellie both attempted to strike up a conversation with him but he politely declined, stating he was waiting for someone. Ellie made a remark to Carina they should send Chuck over next. Carina wanted to know what her reason was. Ellie reasoned that a straight man couldn't resist talking to two hot women in revealing club wear if they approached him so maybe he preferred the company of men. A small group of bikers entered the club and made their way to a table in the corner that had a large reserved sign on it.

"I have a bad feeling about those guys," Ellie said looking at the bikers.

"I have a worse feeling about the guys who just walked in behind them," Chuck said with a sigh. "Several of them are undercover FBI agents working on an extortion case unrelated to the one we're on."

The men in question spread out around the club but not too far from each other. Several minutes later a man in a suit entered and walked directly over to Harper and one of the bikers carrying a small case. He placed the case on the table in front of the well-dressed man and Harper. The biker popped the case open and the new comer smiled. Just as he was about to close the lid the agents Chuck flashed on rushed to the table yelling, "Freeze, FBI," showing their drawn guns. Two things happened at almost the same time, Harper bolted for the back door when he heard the agents announce themselves with Chuck and Sarah in pursuit. Several patrons jumped up and charged at the FBI agents from behind cutting Chuck and Sarah off and engaged them in hand to hand combat, it was more like a bar fight. Chuck ended up taking on the larger of the two men, in what turned out to be a pretty even fight before Chuck got the upper hand and subdued his opponent. Sarah had a little easier time with the man she was fighting, her hand speed and quickness allowed her to land more solid hits than she received driving the man to the floor. Carina and Ellie both found themselves fighting with members of the biker gang. The FBI agent did manage to capture the guy they were after a long foot chase, but Harper got away.

***** Present*****

"Who's going to look at your hands when you get done fixing us up?" Chuck asked his sister.

"No one has to," Carina quipped from beside them, "She kicked her dude in the balls so hard his feet left the ground." All the males in hearing range cringed at the thought.

"In my defense it was a bar fight, you do remember those don't you Chuck. I just had my nails done and I damn sure didn't want to break one," Ellie said with a smile as she patted his hand indicating she was done. Ellie's phone and she fished it of her clutch. "Hey Kathleen, what's up. I'll let the gang know, talk to you later. Casey says he'll meet you back at the office, the brass wants a briefing."

"You heard the lady," Jim said, "I need to finish up here. You can fill me in tomorrow at work." The crew arrived at Castle a short while later where Casey was waiting for them in the conference room. Once they were all seated, he placed the video call.

"From the reports I've seen, tonight didn't go as planned?"

"Not even close," Carina sighed, "Ellie and I approached Harper several times and were rebuffed each time. Ellie decided he was gay and wanted Chuck to approach him and see if he had better luck. Before Chuck could make his move, we witnessed a money exchange going down between Harpers partner and a biker gang. The FBI busted in and all hell broke loose. In the chaos Harper slipped out the back."

"You already know Baker was on loan to the FBI," Sarah began, "in spite of us having an agent on site the FBI neglected to inform us they had an extorsion investigation going on and a raid was planned for tonight. Had we known we could have played Harper into thinking we were on his side and gotten the information from him."

"How exactly would you have done that and why would you think it would work," Beckman asked.

"When I was running cons, I learned to read people. We know there's a good chance Harper is working for or trying to contact Fulcrum. If Chuck could have warned him of the impending raid and got him out of there, he would believe Chuck was operating outside the law. It would have been easy to convince him we were on the other side of the law. Meeting in a seedy bar would lend credence to our cover. It would have given us an in to Fulcrum," Sarah explained. "He was ripe to be conned."

"Do you think it could still work if we found him again?" Casey asked.

"Not a chance for two reasons. First, he's spooked so he'll run to ground until he feels it's clear, it's what I'd have done and second, he's seen us at the place he almost got caught. That's going to push his I don't trust you meter off the charts. If tonight happened on one of my cons, I would think on everyone in that room was busted and are now working for the feds as part of a plea deal," Sarah explained to the General.

"To sum it up, lack of communication between agencies blew our mission all to hell but the FBI completed theirs."

"You would be correct General," Casey said in reply. "My team isn't going to like this, but we need an actual agent from each agency working with us. One's that will keep us informed on what operations they have going and relay ours to them, in a limited scope of course."

"I'll see what I can do. Chuck will have to vet all of them using the intersect before we bring them in. A word of warning, Graham wants an agent he knows on the team. The idiot still hasn't figured out why he doesn't know Sarah with her stellar record with the CIA," Beckman cautioned.

"I figured that was coming," Casey stated. "Are you still coming next week to check out the operation?"

"Unless something comes up, I plan on it. I'll be bringing my husband Roan along as well. He's retired CIA so he's cleared for the project. He may even have an idea on the CIA agent we can bring onboard. If there's nothing else, have a good night, Beckman out."

"That's it people, head home and get some shuteye, we have a big day tomorrow," Casey said dismissing the team.

May 2008

Over the last six months, DSSS was getting busier than they expected when they first opened their doors eight months ago. The group never expected the number of well-off people who requested body guards on a full-time basis to be as high as it turned out to be. When they added in the number of temporary guards they needed, they were forced to expand their work force. Casey felt it would be in the best interest of the clients if the guards they provided be along the lines of a secret service agent so they would blend in better. Casey, Chuck and Jim put out feelers to the former Marines they knew and Marines that would be separating from the Corps. Casey tapped into the other services as well through friends of his.

The IT support teams would be the hardest positions to fill. The two programs Chuck and Carina had worked on took off like wild fire. An almost uncrackable fire wall and a virus, malware and anti-spam program that was far better than anything on the market. When the reviews for the virus program came out the demand rose beyond their expectations. When the price was announced prior to its release, demand was off the charts. Beckman informed Casey that the Government was looking for software to protect government networks against hackers. Casey called in a favor from a retired colonel he knew and set up a day for DSSS to show him what they could do and prevent it from hacking. Chuck and Carina in tandem hacked into the system he was in charge of to demonstrate how easy it could be done. Carina then used her charms on a video call to seal the deal. They were soon awarded several multimillion-dollar contracts with the government.

Sarah and Ellie worked on the civilian sector of the project. Sarah told Ellie they could get the sale by running a con. This set Ellie off until Sarah explained not all cons were bad.

"Settle down Ellie," Sarah said. "It's true most cons only favor the conman or woman, this one will benefit both parties. Do you want patient data exposed?"

"Of course not," Ellie huffed.

"Is the hospital too cheap to update their systems leaving that data at risk?"

"That's a stupid question, you know they are," she huffed again.

"We have Chuck or Carina hack into their system, mess up a few things. You suggest they call us for help. We show them what our software can do after we fix the computers. We give them a price break for being our first client."

"That doesn't sound too bad. It could actually work," Ellie mused. "We can't do that to every company though."

"That's the beauty of it. I learned in the Navy everybody talks, we call it scuttlebutt. You can bet your ass every hospital administrator knows each other. They'll talk about it with each other. That's how the word will spread. In the end, everyone wins."

"Who knew having a con woman as a sister in law would come in handy," Ellie quipped.

Ellie managed to get Westside medical involved when a hacker got into their system. When Westside medical contacted DSSS for help and they resolved the issue in little time they purchased the software as well. Like Sarah predicted the smaller hospitals got on board first followed by the larger health networks.

Unfortunately, the location they were at was fully occupied forcing them to look elsewhere for a building. They found one within a half mile of DSSS that was large enough to handle both aspects of the company. They had it remodeled to fit their needs and hired office managers for each division so they could remain at DSSS Head Quarters. The money was now flowing in at a good clip.

It took Graham almost the entire six months to find an agent he deemed good enough to join Beckman's team who was kicking ass and taking names. The FBI and NSA agents sent to liaison with the team mostly stayed out of the day to day operations intervening when they were needed for missions. Beckman made sure her team understood the CIA agent Graham sent would be involved in the day to day operations.


End file.
